Letter to the Editor: Parking police

Summer is here and a lot of us travel north to cooler climes from the Indian Wells Valley. If you travel through Bishop be forewarned: “there’s a new sheriff in town”. Akin to the age-old unethical use of speed traps, Bishop has found a way to pad their coffers with at least one version of a Parking Trap. The parking area behind Carl’s Jr. Restaurant is popular for travelers and is apparently owned and managed by the City of Bishop….and apparently the City is in economic dire straits, as are many these days. My parking ticket is a small sheet of paper containing 19 check-the-box statements, each of which describe a way a vehicle might not meet the exact requirements of being correctly parked in Bishop. THERE ARE NO SIGNS OR POSTINGS OF ANY KIND TO INDICATE CITY OWNERSHIP OR PARKING ORDINANCE ENFORCEMENT. The “new sheriff” is a dedicated enforcer in a dedicated car who patrols this spot several times an hour (I observed). The citation is processed by a contractor in Huntington Beach and the process for payment is made simple…SASE and mail, or credit card on-line. There is an easy initial avenue for protest, but it is a sham (I had a good case and tried) and the next higher one is infeasible ($80 fuel cost for a hearing vs. $30 easy bail payment…think this wasn’t thought out? Think any flatlander would make the trip?). BTW, any map website will reveal an easy bypass around Bishop: west on Schoeber Lane (just north of the golf course) to Barlow Lane; then Barlow north to 395 again at a signal at the north end of town.

STOP IN TOWN IF YOU HAVE TO, BUT BEWARE…You have been forewarned!

Paul Decker
Ridgecrest

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7 Responses to Letter to the Editor: Parking police

Were you parked illegally or not? It never ceases to amaze me how people park (and drive illegally) around town, and the cops don’t do anything. People park right in the street and block traffic trying to get in McDonalds, skateboarders and bicycles on the sidewalk barely missing pedestrians. I guess its amazing that you got a ticket.

I have a number of neighbors in Bishop who are in constant violation of the City’s parking ordinances; longer than 72 hours, industrial equipment without license plates; I even had a vehicle parked in front of my driveway preventing me from leaving my house!! The City has a police vehicle marked with “Parking enforcement;” yet when I spoke to the parking enforcement officer he told me that it was my responsibility to notify them of illegal parking issues? I think it’s ironic that my taxes pay for parking enforcement in the City of Bishop yet I’m being instructed by the same enforcement officers that I need to do their job for them. The only place I really see them patroling is at the parking areas behind Whitney Alley and the Mountain Light Gallery.

Mark—The parking officer if part time, if even that. His main job is to patrol the city parking lots not drive city streets constantly. I’d rather not be worried about getting a ticket for leaving my vehicle on the street in front of my house for an hour over the 72 hour rule. If there is a safety issue such as a vehicle blocking a fire hydrant or line of site at an intersection than I think it is our responsibility to notify police. As far as unlicensed vehicles parked on city streets, regular uniformed officers should be seeing that on their routine patrols and issuing citations accordingly. The clown who wrote the letter to the editor probably pulled a trailer across 8 parking spaces and strolled over to Schats not caring a lot of people would like to use the city park and could use a space too.

Mark…Next time someone parks their vehicle in front of your driveway,preventing you from leaving your house,one of two things to do…If you have to get somewhere,call the local tow company to get it moved.legally…or I can think of something else to do to the car,if you don’t got nowhere to go,but want to send a message to the idiot that would do such a thing.